Renovating

Colin and Justin team up with Bryan Baeumler

Turning a tired fixer-upper into a well appointed abode

We’ve long since admired Toronto’s east end; we love the shopping on Queen (check out Stacaro, one of our favourite retail haunts) and restos such as Gio Rana’s, where we’ve spent many a night up to our nipples in Italian fancy and Limoncellos. Whether you favour Cabbagetown, Cork Town or the Distillery District (for those outside Toronto, these are but a few of the cooler enclaves), the city’s east end appeal is undeniable.

Another popular district is Riverdale, thanks to its cultural mix, friendly residents and various architectural home styles. Sure, Cabbagetown expounds with neat manicured avenues, the Distillery District boasts commodious post and beam lofts, but Riverdale has the quirkiest homes of all. Some are painted grey with neat picket fences, while others are 100-year-old red bricks with window boxes bulging with topiary. Many are concrete-rendered and painted in warm tones, and the remainder vinyl-sided “clapboard” affairs with unfussy lines. Due to Riverdale’s bohemian allure, the media fraternity is buoyant, which is where today’s homeowner, Craig Goodwill, comes into play.

Craig, a TV and film director, shares his home with makeup artist wife Mona, and together they’ve transformed it, with the assistance of our fellow columnist Bryan Baeumler, from a tired fixer-upper to the perfectly appointed abode it has become today. Arranged across three floors, the house is decorated in predominantly neutral tones, but comes alive via carefully selected photography that peppers the space.

“Mona and I enjoy collecting photographic art, but I also love creating my own imagery. When something catches my eye — a place, a person, an animal — I have to have it, to capture it, to own it. My photography observes a moment in time and allows me to preserve it for posterity.”

As well as being a personal sanctuary, Craig’s home also served as a useful workhorse during the creation of Patch Town, an official “Short Cuts” selection at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Written and directed by Craig, the 27-minute short is a musical black comedy set in the Soviet era. Based on a Russian fable that suggests babies arrive, not via stork, but via the cabbage patch, it crams in extraordinarily high production values and tells the story of Jon (played by Rob Ramsay) who, abandoned by his “mother” (played by Lisa Ray), sets out in adulthood to trace his roots.

Forget the squash-faced inanimate dolls that stole kids hearts during the 1980s; Patch Town babies are real children (each harvested and “processed” from a cabbage), who are blighted by consumerist ideals, the very phenomenon that saw many 1980s dolls discarded by their “moms” as soon as a shinier toy became available. As much a feast for the eye as it is the imagination, the tale clashes Russian folklore and Soviet-style oppression with Western appetite and greed. Mixing touches of Peter Greenaway (The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover) with Caro and Jeunet (City Of Lost Children) — and even Terry Gilliam (Brazil) — the film, nonetheless, imparts its own unique flavour that mesmerizes from the very first scene.

Patch Town, however, will undoubtedly challenge viewers; it’s not a soft soap account of the birds and the bees, but rather a densely black piece of work with surrealist comedic undertones. It’s utterly thought-provoking — and at times, disturbing — and a film, explains Craig, that simply had to be made. “Now it’s done it’s like the final Patch Town baby has been born. The one that tells the distressing story of so many lost and discarded’ children.”

Chatting with Craig, talk swings like a pendulum between cinema and home, and he’s clearly passionate about both. “This house is our haven, even though people are always coming and going. It’s a very social place.” Indeed, the dark wooden dining table where Craig posed for our portrait is the very station at which production meetings were held to work through scripts, budgets and locations. Members of his team, on an almost daily basis, gathered to work out strategies while phones would be ringing, kitchen designers would be visiting and wooden flooring contractors would be assessing work.

Completed, the kitchen diner also serves as a lovely backdrop against which to contemplate the delivery of the film to its TIFF audience. White doors reflect light, while palest grey Statuario marble countertops bounce illumination even further. The standard of workmanship, at every turn, is impeccable. Zebrano veneer and dark wood flooring add visual depth. Just like a film script, explains Craig, his home’s interior is all about “interaction.”

“We worked with Irpinia Kitchens to plan the design. We knew the kind of look we hoped to achieve, but with so many other things going on we employed their services to ensure we got it right.”

As film production and home reno ran in tandem, Craig and Mona, as if all this weren’t enough, were planning their wedding, a union which took place last September. So a stressful time, then? Eh, no. Craig doesn’t like to make a fuss. Busy as he is, his focus doesn’t appear to shift, even when multi-tasking. “I’ve reared that movie from the start. I’m so proud of it. But I’ve been blessed along the way with an amazing team who helped the rest of my life carry on as normal. Everyone wanted the film to be born and seeing it accredited during TIFF has been, well, it’s been unbelievable.”

With his directorial star ascending, does the talented filmmaker foresee a time when a move to America might be required? “Canada has a remarkably buoyant film industry so I’m very comfortable here. But of course there are interesting possibilities elsewhere. And in L.A., obviously, there are some wonderful opportunities. Guess only time will tell.”

As the pendulum swings back to home territory, we talk about how important it is to feel centred in one’s own environment. We’ve always maintained that a good home will encourage its occupants to feel productive, and it’s little wonder that in this lovely house, Craig’s storytelling imagination has been unbridled. Clutter is minimal. “It gets in the way,” explains our host, “neither of us like to undermine our space with items that aren’t either practical or beautiful.” Pausing, to refresh our coffee, he adds: “Sure, this is our home, but it has to remain organized because it’s also my second office. Mona has been really patient. She’d be working all day and come in exhausted but she’d still listen as I poured the woes of the film industry upon her while working through scripts and budgets. She’s been a total rock.”

One floor up from the living room are two well appointed guest bedrooms and a dark timber detailed porcelain bathroom. On a chunky wooden washstand sits an elongated rectilinear sink dressed with handmade soaps and a Phalanopsis orchid in a metal drum. Nothing is overplayed or overly fussy. Towels, neatly stacked, provide functionality while bolstering the room’s immaculately groomed esthetic. From the landing, further stairs lead to Craig and Mona’s master suite, a bright airy space with French doors that yield onto a neat terrace, added as part of the renovation. “Ours was pretty much the only home in this stretch that didn’t have a sun deck but with a precedent already set it was fairly easy to get approval.” We imagine warm mornings with freshly brewed coffee and croissants, and, as we conjure up the vision, Craig seems to read our minds. “With the weather we’ve had lately it’s the perfect place to start the day. Long may it continue.”

Our home tour concluded, we descend the stairs and prepare to leave. Wishing Craig all the luck in the world for TIFF, we stride into the street and jump in our car. It’s not yet noon but the district is already throbbing, its eastern promise luring us into a coffee shop to start transcribing the notes we’ve amassed from our morning of “Goodwill Hunting.” Perhaps, if the call of L.A. becomes too much for Craig and Mona to resist, we’ll offer to babysit their Riverdale home when they’re out of town on Patch Town business. For we could, indeed, be very comfortable there.

Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan are the hosts of HGTV’s Colin & Justin’s Home Heist and the authors of Colin & Justin’s Home Heist Style Guide, published by Penguin Group (Canada). Follow them on Twitter @colinjustin or on Facebook (ColinandJustin). Contact them through their website, www.colinandjustin.tv.

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